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W. A. REID. FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS.

Patented'Feb,.-24,.1885.

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WILLIAM A. REID, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOB TO THE N. O. NELSONMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

FIRE-EXTBNGUISHING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 312,899, dated February24, 1885.

(No model.)

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Be it known that I, XVILLIAM A. 111 111), of the city of St. Louis, inthe State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Automatic Fire-Extinguishers, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and in which-Figure 1 is a vertical section, part in elevation, and Fig. 2 is adiagram in perspective.

Hy invention relates to an automatic fireextinguisher for buildings; andit consists in features of novelty hereinafter fully described, andpointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a tank located on the top of abuilding or other suitable support and adapted to hold liquid, as brineor water.

13 represents a pipe connecting the tank with the city main or otherwater-supply, and it preferably has an upper horizontal part, B, avertical part, 13*, a lower horizontal part,]3 and a part, B, leading tothe main or supply. 2 In this pipe, preferably in the parts B and B arevalves 0 and 0', provided each with a lilting-lever, G, fulcrumed to thehousing of the valve by a link, 0, as shown in Fig. 1, the

valves havingstems or rods 0" connecting them to the levers by passingthrough the tops of the housings. The outer ends of the levers of thevalves are connected by means of a wire or cord, D,passing over pulleysD, supported on an arm, D, secured to the tank. When the apparatus isnot in use, the lower valve is held closed and the upper one open bymeans of a wire or cord, D", connecting the outer end of the lower leverto the housing of the valve.

The wire or cord D has a seal, D, and as soon 0 as this seal is broken aweight, D connected to the outer end of the upper lever, closes theupper valve and opens the lower one.

Connected to the pipe B on the supply side of the lower valve, 0, is apipe, H, that ex- 4 5 tends upward and communicates with the tank A, andit has a horizontal part, H, supplied with a valve, H connected by meansof its stem H to a lever, H, fulcrumed by means of a link, H to thehousing of the valve. The outer end of this lever is connected by meansof a wire or cord, 1, to a float, l, in the tank, the connectionpreferably being made through means of a bell-crank lever, l", pivotedto a support, I, the wire l being made fast to one arm and the float, bymeans of awire or cord, 5 I, to the other. The wire or cord 1' passesover a pulley, 1 on the support 1 The float consists, preferably, of apiece of wood coated with coi )per,so that itwill not become saturatedwith the liquid and its specific gravity thus changed and it preferablyhas openings on top to receive one or more weights, 1", by wh ch theweight of the float may be regulated at will.

It will thus be seen that when the float falls (by reason of the waterinthe tank evaporating 6 5 or passing out to extinguish the fire, asstated hereinafter) it will pull up through means of the connecting-wireI on the outer end of the lever H, thereby opening the valve Hpermitting the water to pass through the pipe H to supply the tank, andas soon as the float rises again the valve is closed by a weight, H,connected to the outer end of the lever H The tank is thus kept suppliedat all times.

J represents a pipe connected to the pipe B, and a number of smallerpipes, J, are connected to that J. (See diagram, Fig. 2.) These pipes JJ are provided with extinginshers J", preferably such as was patented toG. O. a-lworth, July 10, 1883, No. 281,169.

The operation is as follows: In case of a fire the fusible solder of theextinguishers explodes and the extinguishers open, and the liquid passesfrom the-tank through the pipes B, J, and J, and out through theextinguishers. As 3 5 the water escapes from the tank to a sufficientamount the float falls, opening the valve H as described, allowing waterto enter the tank through the pipe Hto keep it supplied. We will nowsuppose that the fire is discovered by 90 some one, who lifts or raisesthe outer end of the lever G of the valve 0, breaking the seal D",thereby opening this valve and closing that G, which turns on the fullsupply from the main and prevents further discharge from 5 the tank, aswell as preventing the water entering the tank through the pipe B, owingto its force being greater than that of the water in the tank. Theobject of turning the water on directly from the main or supply is, thata greater force and amount of water is obtained.

' When the float falls, an alarm may be sounded by means of an electricbell, L, battery L, wires L spring L", to which one of the wires sconnected, bar L, to which the other wire 1s connected, and a block, L,on the wire 1, that comes against the spring as the float falls andraises it against the bar to connect the I circuit. There may be anumber of these bells, if desired, connected to the main wires L byauxiliary wires L.

In case, from some cause or other, the float should not operate as abovedescribed, and as it is intended itshouldas, for instance, some of theparts might become rusty by long standing, so as'not to work freely, sothat the liquid in the tankwill become exhausted before the I tire isextinguishedit is desirable to have the building over the pipes J J.

some automatic means to open the valve H", and this I accomplish b avery cheap and simple contrivance, consisting of a weight, N, connectedto the wire I by a wire or cord, N, passing over apulley, N". Connectedto the weight is also a wire, N consisting of sec tions united byfusible solder, as shown at N*. This wire passes over a pulley, N andtakes the strain of the weight off the wire N, and

this wire N extends around under the floor of The fusible solder in thiswire will become melted soon after the extinguishers are opened, and ifthe valve H has not been opened by the float, the falling of the weightN will open it.

I provide the pipe H witha small wastepipe, 0, so that the water willleak out of the pipe H after it has been used and not freeze up in coldweather. The pipe B also has a waste-pipe, O, and waste cock 0". Thepipe 0 has a valve or cock, O

Connecting with the valve or cock 0 is a glass tube. P, extending upwardand connecting with the pipe B at its upper end,where it is providedwith a valve. 1?. The valves 0 and P are left open, except when the pipeB is in use. and may be left open then. By

opening the valve 0 the water can be drained out of the pipe B belowfreezing-line in winter, and the gage P acts as an indicator to show theheight of the water in the pipe.

vided with a hinged lid or cover, V, through which the working parts maybe reached.

Each story of the building is, or at least may be. provided with thepipes J J and alarmbells.

I claim as my invention 1 1. The combination of the tank, float,supply-pipe, valve in the supply-pipe, weight to close the valve, wireconnecting the valve to the float to lift the former'when the latterfalls, and block L on the wire to operate an alarm, as set forth.

2. In a fire-extinguisher, the combination of the tank, float,supply-pipe, discharge-pipe, wire connecting the float to a valve in thesupply-pipe, pipe B, provided with valves connected by a wire, wire forholding the lower valve closed and the upper valve open, and weight forclosing the upper valve automatically when the lower one is opened,substantially as and for the purpose set forth. 3. In afire-extinguisher, the combination of the tank, float, supply-pipe,discharge-pipe, wire connecting the float to a valve in the supply-pipe,and pipe B, provided with valves, arranged and. operating substantiallyas set forth, and with a valve and funnel at its upper end and a. gageand valved drainpipe at its lower end, for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of the tank, float, supply-pipe, valve in thesupply-pipe, weight to close the valve, wire connecting the valve to thefloat to lift the former when the latter falls, wire sections connectedby fusible solder, weight supported by the sections, and wire connectingthe weight to the valve and floatwire, as set forth.

WVILLIAM A. REID.

In presence of v GEO. H. KNIGHT, SAML. KNIGHT.

